Tiny
terrapins teach math, writing, goverment lessons
By PAMELA WOOD, Staff Writer
Shelly and Squirt are
slippery, squirmy and a little bit stinky, as are all diamondback terrapins.
But they're also adorable and endearing, and
they've won over the hearts of 28
"We're raising them and we're
getting close to them. If they went extinct, that would be sad," said
11-year-old Hayden Binnix, a student in Debbie Hendricks' class at
Hayden is working with classmate Neil
Kentworthy, 10, on a letter to the editor that they
hope will be published. Students are writing to the governor, congressmen, The
Capital and other newspapers.
They've learned the secrets of
successful persuasive letters, such as including plenty of facts and making a
personal pitch.
After studying terrapins in general -
and Shelly and Squirt in particular - all year, the kids are well-acquainted
with facts about the species. They can rattle off population numbers and
harvest guidelines off the top of their heads.
Take for example, 11-year-old Chris
Best, who pointed out that usually only females reach the required minimum size
for harvesting, 6 inches.
"Because females are laying eggs,
if they all get caught, they could go extinct," said Chris, who's working
with classmate Jeremy Lamb, 10, on a letter to the editor.
What the kids are hoping for is an
outright ban on the commercial harvest of terrapins. Though only a handful of
watermen are licensed to catch terrapins, they have a nine-month season and no
catch limits as long as the terrapins are large enough.
Del. Virginia Clagett,
The kids argue that
"If there's no more left, there
will be no more state mascot. And it's the mascot for the Lady Terps, and it
would be bad if they had an extinct mascot," said 10-year-old Sara Ruzzi,
referring to the
Some students were disturbed to learn
that terrapins are eaten. Ellie Smith, 10, said she even had a nightmare about
Shelly and Squirt winding up in her family's soup.
"I've grown really attached to our
terrapins," she said.
For Mrs. Hendricks and student teacher
Erin Meyer, the publicity surrounding the terrapin harvest enabled them to use
the reptiles in several subject areas.
The children already practiced science
and math skills by feeding, weighing and measuring the terrapins. And now
they're using the terrapins for writing exercises, and learning about participating
in government.
Toni Johnson, 11, and writing partner
Kiaira Reeves, 10, focused their writing energies on Rep. Chris Van Hollen,
D-Montgomery.
Kiaira said her pitch went like this:
"We think you should change the law because we are taking care of terrapins
and we love them."
Ten-year-old Caroline Watt became so
enamored with the terrapins that she wrote a poem. She decorated "An Ode
to Shelly and Squirt" with turtle stickers and placed it on the terrapins'
tank.
The poem reads, in part:
We don't want to let them go.
We've been hit by Cupid's bow.
And though the children love Shelly and
Sq uirt, the terrapins will return to the
"As difficult as it's going to be
to release the terrapins, it puts a face on the bay," Mrs. Hendricks said.
Published